Last year I praised HLN’s first production of the Daytime Emmys because it was straightforward and lean. This year’s show was exactly the opposite — overlong (almost three hours) and full of things that just shouldn’t have been included. Boring!

Doug Davidson and his well-deserved and long overdue Best Actor award (Photo by Richard ShotwellInvision/AP)

How about that couch? I’m talking about the one on which winners were interviewed by such “journalists” as Giada Di Laurantiis and Sheryl Underwood. At least some of the winners — Best Actor Doug Davidson and Best Supporting Actress Julie Marie Berman, for instance — handled themselves well and with grace in the awkward situation. There was just too much stuff stuffed into the show — like two Lifetime Achievement awards (Monty Hall and Bob Stewart) and presentation of three generic Best Song performances by co-host Robin Meade (who is at least a pretty woman with a nice voice). Nancy Lee Grahn’s brief comedy bits filmed outdoors were not very good..

The whole problem with the show is that in content it aimed to be a major network presentation, but missed because of poor and cheap production. It makes us remember and appreciate what a good job Dick Clark Productions did with the show over the years. The hosts — Sam Champion, A.J. Hammer and Meade — were just meh, and scattershot appearances by them did nothing to keep the whole production feeling cohesive. All in all, the 40th annual Daytime Emmys was a production not befitting of its own lofty aims or of the hard work done on daytime television by so many creative people over the year.

The winners in most of the acting categories, on the other hand, were well chosen. Finally, Davidson deservedly won his Best Actor statuette after 35 years in the show in a very emotional storyline on The Young and the Restless (Paul shot his would-be murderer son Ricky.) The Bold and the Beautiful’s Heather Tom always excels, particularly in her storyline in which Katie suffered a near-psychotic breakdown after the birth of her son. And General Hospital’s Julie Marie Berman’s win as Best Supporting Actress was a good parting gift from the show.

Speaking of GH, wasn’t the show shortchanged in a year when the big awards (Best Show, Best Writing, Best Direction) went to B&B. Not that B&B had a bad year (it was very good, especially with the scenes leading up to Stephanie’s death), but GH literally had its finest years in decades, an everyday must-see show which corrected the mistakes made by the horribly crime-centric longtime headwriter Bob Guza. Except for an underserved award for Best Young Actress to Kristen Alderson (while she was still playing Starr Manning), GH deserved many more awards and rewards this year.

On Days of Our Lives, Chandler Massey was rewarded for a very nice job with Best Younger Actor. Then the show went on to score the evening’s the real upset – Days won as Best Soap. As bitterly noted by executive producer Ken Corday in his acceptance speech, this was the first time in 38 years the show had won the ultimate award.

I’m on school vacation and have plenty of time on my hands. So I’ve been watching a lot of The Young and the Restless. It’s pretty good soap, if time and patience are your strengths as a soap viewer.

Y&R, as is its custom, is much slower than other soaps. A storyline — take Jack and Phyllis’ romance, for example — can take twenty years to resolve. Right now, it’s about to be exposed whether Phyllis’ daughter Summer is Jack’s or Nick’s biologically. A single new romance like as Nick and Avery’s can take an entire year to develop. They’re finally formally engaged as of this week! Any one storyline can go through dozens of ups and downs.

Tracey E. Bregman and Christian LeBlanc

The current best example is Lauren and Michael’s long marriage and the rough seas it has been going through since Lauren had a hot affair with Carmine. It took forever for Michael to find out about the affair and now he seems to be moving in and out of his and Lauren’s home with regularity. Actually this storyline is a good showcase for daytime’s best current couple, Tracey E. Bregman and Chrtistian LeBlanc, durable and always engaging actors both. We watched both performers grow up on soaps and we’re still tuned in. Will Lauren and Michael stay together? I bet this storyline has years to go, and that Bregman and LeBlanc will continue to carry it forward.

Others that have gone on seemingly forever aren’t so palatable. I’m tired of Kevin and Chloe debating Kevin’s criminal tendencies. Chelsea’s sole reason for being seems to be getting pregnant. As you know, she’s currently carrying ex-husband Adam’s baby and passing it off as Dylan’s.

As you also know, the star du jour of the show is General Hospital émigré Steve Burton who plays Dylan, or as I call him Dumb Dylan. He seems like a pretty intelligent guy, yet he persists in believing Chelsea’s big lie. It doesn’t make much sense since he’s otherwise insightful and perceptive. Writer alert: this isn’t Burton’s fault.

Despite its perpetual status as the top rated show, Y&R is certainly facing big challenges right now. On top of Jeanne Cooper’s recent death, Michelle Stafford is about to leave the show. Can any one soap afford to lose two of its longtime superstars in such a short period of time? Ratings will tell.

So how goes your early summer, Thinking Fans? Do you have the patience to watch Y&R?

Daytime Emmy Chump Change

On June 16th, this year’s Daytime Emmys will be broadcast on HLN. Released this week were the names of the hosts — Sam Champion, Good Morning America’s co-host, and HLN hosts A. J. Hammer and Robin Meade. But … if an awards show’s prestige is measured in part by the star power of its celebrity hosts, couldn’t we have bigger names than these? We know there are only four daytime soaps left (and two on-line) but certainly the year’s big awards ceremony deserves be headlined by hosts with more juice. What do you think?